Wednesday, July 13, 2011

i'm taking a bite out of Teen Wolf & Stiles!

As much as I am an 80s whore, I still haven't seen the 1985 classic Teen Wolf starring Michael J. Fox (though it is cued up in on Netflix for future viewing). I've seen bits of it on television and wasn't too impressed, if I want to enjoy Fox I'd cue up Back to the Future instead. I do like Supernatural premises if you couldn't guess by looking around on my blog so it's probably just the cheese I very well expect it to be. It will be viewed all in good time (I've got Camelot to finish watching first!). Oh, I have seen Teen Wolf Too with Jason Bateman and that's bad so I have to believe that the first film is just a slightly better film. On to the segue - I have been watching the MTV series which I thought at first was just a movie for the network until I noticed it said "new series" and then I just said "OK, fine, I'll give that a chance".

This show has been getting rather wide receipted reviews which not only surprised me but pushed my interest further to check out the series. The plot lines are OK, somewhat weak but perceptive to the tween/young adult audience. Scott is your basic main character whom I've yet to see break out of his wolf-bound secret, but will probably be more diverse after the lush drama is dispensed about his hairy side. Allison is perhaps too perfect in her slight build and who is accosted by every boy on the show like the only pretty girl magnet in the school (never sure why they tend to do that to every nice girl on a show anyway...) but she's a tier above Lydia since she's just annoying. I do understand that's her character , the Queen Bee, the uptight fashionista that desperately seeks to be on the highest pedestal in the high school hierarchy. I like Jackson so far, I suppose he's the mean jock, but he comes across as a troubled teen and I connect to his plight stronger than Scott's own. Besides he's getting bullied worse than anyone else on the show, poor guy needs to be cut a break! Derek Hale is interesting as a mentor wolf and I wish they would play up on that side of Scott instead of the romance one.

Hands down, my favorite character on the show is Stiles (played by Dylan O'Brien), Scott's best friend and the werewolf aficionado of the group. Not only is he played brilliantly with deadpan and over-the-top humor but a strong, helpful hand in his friend's recent misfortunes. To me, they could have wrote his character off as being the best friend that says something stupid before running off, but he's the only one logically devising ideas and plans to protect not only himself but everyone around him (case in point, hitting Jackson in the face for suggesting bringing his father, the sheriff, to his death by giant, alpha wolf). When Scott explained he was bit by a wolf, Stiles read up and prepared himself with the reality. He didn't blindly think it was awesome, and that would have bothered me to bits, but he took the smarter approach. He reminds me a tad of Randy Meeks from the Scream series, the guy who knows everything and is using his knowledge the best way for the situation. Stiles keeps me tuned in every Monday otherwise I may have left off after the second episode. I can't stand the "what if" romance crap, he's turning into a freaking wolf, falling in love not an option.

I love the adult supporting cast as well. JR Bourne (Ginger Snaps Back. 13 Ghosts, Selling Innocence) plays Allison's father who is also a werewolf hunter along with his sister werewolf hunter played by Jill Wagner (Blade: The Series, Wipeout!) and Stiles father, the Sheriff, is played by none other than Linden Ashby (Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil: Extinction). The cast does a good job all around and the special effects make-up isn't dreadfully corny and the Alpha wolf is somewhat intimidating and ferocious. I do hope Jackson becomes a werewolf hunter too, looks like he's headed in that direction though the scratches on his neck say other wise. Could he possibly be a wolf from a scratch and not a bite? I thought those went hand-in-hand...I'll guess I'll just wait and see.

If you haven't seen Teen Wolf, it's worth a look compared to the crap on MTV nowadays. It's Monday nights at 8/9c but they tend to repeat the aired episodes throughout the week, usually late.